Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World

Chapter 145: The Gathering

They walked for what felt like hours.

Gou Sheng kept stopping to sniff the air. Er Gou kept looking over his shoulder. Da Sha kept tripping over roots and apologizing to the roots.

Xin Yi’s feet were bleeding. Her leaf outfit was falling apart. She was cold, hungry, and confused.

"Hei Yan said a place," she said. "How much further?"

"Close, Boss," Gou Sheng said. "Very close. Just past the big trees."

The trees opened up, and Xin Yi stopped.

There were people everywhere.

Not just a few. Dozens. Maybe more. They were gathered in a wide hollow between two hills, fires crackling in scattered pits. Some wore furs. Some wore leather. Some wore cloth that looked almost like real fabric.

Panther spots. Tiger stripes. Snake scales. Lion manes.

They looked civilized.

Not like the beastmen the hyenas had described, wild, naked, eating raw meat. These people had tents. They had cooking pots. They had children running between the fires, laughing, playing.

"What is this?" Xin Yi whispered, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Survivors," Er Gou said. "From many tribes. When the red-eyes came, they ran. Found each other. Made camp."

"The Neutral Zone fell," Da Sha added. "Boss built it. Now it is gone."

Xin Yi stared at the camp. At the people huddled together. At the fear beneath their calm faces.

"I built this?" she asked.

"Boss built everything," Gou Sheng said. "Then Boss disappeared. Then everything broke." Oh.....

Someone spotted them.

A woman with tiger stripes. She froze. Her mouth opened.

Then she screamed.

"SHE’S BACK!"

The camp went silent.

Every head turned. Every eye found Xin Yi.

Then the whispers started.

"It’s her—"

"The Pink Skin—"

"She’s alive—"

"After all this time—"

Xin Yi took a step back. The hyenas pressed closer around her, growling at anyone who moved too fast.

"Boss is confused," Gou Sheng announced loudly. "Boss does not remember. Do not crowd Boss. Do not scare Boss or I will eat you myself."

The crowd didn’t move.

But they stared.

And stared.

And stared.

"PINK SKIN!"

The scream came from the side of the camp. High-pitched. Familiar in a way Xin Yi couldn’t explain.

A child burst out from between two tents.

He was small. Maybe seven years old. Black hair. Dark eyes. Scales along his arms, snake scales. He was wearing a too-large tunic and no shoes.

And he was running straight at her.

"PINK SKIN! PINK SKIN! PINK SKIN!"

Xin Yi’s body moved before her mind caught up. She crouched down and opened her arms.

The boy slammed into her.

He wrapped his arms around her neck. His legs around her waist.

He was crying. Sobbing. Shaking.

"Twenty days," he choked out. "You were gone twenty days. I counted. I counted every day. I thought you died. I thought the sky ate you. I thought—"

"Hey," Xin Yi cooed. Her voice came out soft. "Hey, it’s okay."

It wasn’t okay. She didn’t know this child. She didn’t remember him.

But he was crying, and it hurt to see him this way.

She hugged him back.

Suddenly, the blue screen of her system flickered.

[Xiao Long.]

[Snake cub. Host’s adopted son.]

[Host loved him very much.]

[Host called him baby.]

Oh.....he was her adopted son? Xin Yi looked at the boy in her arms.

He was still crying, still holding on like she might disappear.

"Baby," she said quietly. Testing the word.

Xiao Long’s head snapped up. His eyes were red, swollen, streaming tears.

"Why did you leave me?" He sobbed, and Xin Yi’s heart broke even further. Before she could respond, he buried his face in her neck and cried harder.

A man approached.

Tall. Snake scales. Dark hair streaked with gray. He walked like a soldier, straight back, careful steps, eyes scanning for threats.

He stopped a few feet away and stared at Xin Yi.

His face went pale.

"Xin Yi?" His voice cracked. "Xin Yi?!"

The hyenas moved to block him. Gou Sheng bared his teeth.

"Back, snake. Boss does not know you."

"Gou Sheng, let him through," Xin Yi commanded, surprised by how easily it came out.

The hyenas hesitated. Then moved.

The man stepped closer. He looked at Xiao Long clinging to her. He looked at her face. Her eyes. Her leaf outfit.

"We thought you died," he said. "When the portal closed. When the light swallowed you. We thought—" His voice broke. He pressed a hand over his mouth.

"Kuan Tie," Xiao Long said, his voice muffled against Xin Yi’s shoulder. "It’s Pink Skin. It’s really her."

Kuan Tie.

"What happened?" Xin Yi asked. "Please. Someone tell me what happened."

The hyenas told the story.

Gou Sheng did most of the talking. Er Gou added details, and Da Sha interrupted with corrections.

They spoke of a god. A white place. A fight.

"You went to face him," Gou Sheng said. "The Sky Lord. The angry one. You took the Alphas. You went through a hole in the sky."

"And then?"

"You disappeared," Er Gou said. "The light ate you. The hole closed. The Alphas came back without you."

"They were different after," Da Sha added. "Quieter. Angrier. Sad."

Kuan Tie took over.

"The corruption spread faster after you were gone," he said. "More red-eyes. More attacks. Tribes fell one by one. The Neutral Zone couldn’t hold, and people scattered."

He gestured at the camp.

"These are some of the survivors. Panthers. Snakes. Tigers. Lions. Wolves. All mixed together. All running."

"The Alphas keep us safe," another voice said. A woman with wolf fur draped over her shoulders. "Hei Yan hunts the red-eyes. Qing Lin watches the borders. Sha Chen plans our movements. Feng Huang keeps morale up."

"And Jin Xuan?" Xin Yi asked. She didn’t know why she knew that name. But it came out anyway.

The woman smiled weakly. "Jin Xuan carries rocks. He is very good at carrying rocks."

Xin Yi looked around the camp again.

Everything had collapsed. Everything she built. Everything she was supposed to be.

And she didn’t remember any of it.

"Little female."

The voice came from behind her. Deep. Raspy. Shocked.

Xin Yi turned.

A massive man stood at the edge of the firelight. Lion features. Grey-streaked mane. Scarred face. He was carrying a spear and wearing armor made from bone and leather.

Behind him stood more warriors. Lions. All of them staring at her like she was a ghost.

"Chief Jin Hai," Kuan Tie said. "She’s back. But she doesn’t remember."

The lion chief walked toward her slowly.

Xiao Long tightened his grip on Xin Yi’s neck.

"Little female," Jin Hai said again. "You came back."

"I..." Xin Yi swallowed. "I’m sorry. I don’t—"

He held up a hand.

"You don’t need to explain. You’re here. That is enough."

He looked at the hyenas.

"Guard her well," he said.

Then he walked away. Back to his warriors. Back to the shadows.

Xin Yi watched him go.

So I was that important, she thought. To all of them.

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

A shout suddenly came from the edge of camp.

People scrambled aside as a figure emerged from the darkness.

He was tall. Pale. Dressed in torn green robes that might have once been fine. His green hair was matted, unwashed, hanging in his face.

And his face—

Xin Yi’s breath caught.

He had been beautiful once. She could see it. The sharp jaw. The elegant features. The proud way he held himself even now.

But something had happened to him.

One of his eyes was gone. Covered by a rough leather patch strapped around his head. The skin around it was scarred, puckered, healed badly.

He looked terrible.

He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

He pushed through the crowd. Shouldered past a tiger warrior who tried to stop him. Stumbled on a root. Caught himself. Kept coming.

His remaining eye was wild. Searching.

Then it found her.

He froze.

His chest heaved. His hands trembled at his sides, and his lips parted.

"Xin..." His voice cracked. "Xin Yi?"

He took a step toward her.

Then another.

Then he was running.

The hyenas didn’t stop him. Kuan Tie didn’t stop him. Xiao Long let go of Xin Yi’s neck and slid to the ground.

The man stopped in front of her. Close enough to touch. Close enough to see the tears streaming down his scarred face.

"Xin Yi," he whispered again.

"Who are you?" Xin Yi asked.

The man flinched like she had struck him.

Behind her, the System flickered desperately.

[Qing Lin. Snake King. Host’s—]

[ERROR]

[Host’s—]

[ERROR ERROR ERROR]

The screen shattered.

Xin Yi was alone with the crying man and his one remaining eye.

"Please," he said. His voice broke. "Please tell me you remember something. Anything."

Xin Yi opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.